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They call for a system known as the Single Transferable Vote, where voters rank their choices.

They call for the Assembly to adopt the plans for 29 constituencies - and to have three AMs for each of them.

They write: "If we elected three AMs for each constituency, one would arrive at a chamber of 87 members.”

At present, 40 of the AMs are elected from the same constituencies used to elect Wales’ 40 MPs.

The remaining 20 are elected from regional lists.

How an 87-member Assembly might look if AMs were chosen by Single Transferable Vote

Today’s report, Reshaping the Senedd, states that a shift to STV would mean “all AMs would be elected on the same basis”.

The authors have calculated that under an STV system the Assembly could have 41 Labour AMs, 20 Conservative, 18 Plaid, four Ukip and four Liberal Democrat.

An alternative proposal is that the AMs could be chosen from an “open list”.

Under this system, voters are able to cast their votes for an individual candidate and “seats would then be allocated proportionally to parties according to the total number of votes their candidates received”.

This could have resulted in 47 Labour AMs, 18 Plaid, 17 Conservative, four Liberal Democrat and one Ukip.

What might happen if the Open List system was used

The authors state: “If Open List were to be used for National Assembly elections, one would also need to give careful consideration to the Electoral Formula used.

"Our figures suggest that using a three-member system with the current D’Hondt formula would substantially favour the largest party.

"If it had been used in the 2016 Assembly election, our estimates suggest that the system would have produced a clear majority for the Labour party, and increased the overall disproportionality of the system considerably.”

The Assembly will gain the power to increase its size when the Wales Bill becomes law – but only if two-thirds of AMs vote in favour. Cross-party support will have to be secured.

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The initial proposals for changes to the boundaries of Welsh parliamentary constituencies

Professor Roger Scully, the acting director of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre, said: “Our report provides seven principles against which to assess the main possible voting systems. We want all parties to sign up to these principles as a basis for rational debate.

“The report finds several systems, such as Westminster’s First Past the Post system, unsuitable. Adapting the current system is more palatable, whilst the systems that best balance the principles are either an Open List or the Single Transferable Vote in 29, three-member constituencies.

“There is no perfect system that fully satisfies every principle, so this is about finding the right balance.

“We know that parties will approach this from different standpoints, so this report can be used as a serious basis and common ground for discussions that can help build the necessary agreement to take Welsh democracy forward.”

Political expert Roger Scully of the Wales Governance Centre

Owain ap Gareth of ERS Cymru said: “New tax powers, and the prospect of additional powers from Europe make the case for a larger, fairly-elected Assembly, stronger than ever. [This report] looks at practical ways to achieve a larger, more democratic Assembly that can deal with the new challenges and opportunities that will arise through the Wales Bill and following Brexit.

“Consensus is not just desirable but essential for change to happen. That is how it should be: changes to the rules of the game require a different kind of debate that goes beyond partisan politics.

“This report gives people the key principles and practical tools to have a clear-headed and positive debate about how we make a bolstered Assembly work better for voters and Welsh politics as a whole.”